BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — UPDATE:
The Brazos County Health District has confirmed coronavirus testing results are negative in a Texas A&M student. The student had recently traveled from the area of Wuhan, China, where a deadly outbreak of the 2019 Novel coronavirus is happening right now.
The CDC released the results to the health district today. They confirmed it is a negative result and the student was not suffering from the coronavirus.
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A Texas A&M student is being tested for a possible case of novel coronavirus. The university is working with the Brazos County Health District to determine the next steps, but health officials said the immediate health risk to the campus community is low.
"Coronavirus is actually a group of viruses, a group of different viruses that can cause many different types of illnesses from the common cold to more complex illnesses such as SARS that occurred a few years ago," said CHI St. Joseph Health Chief Medical Officer Kia Parsi.
The student went to the emergency room Wednesday night for treatment of an upper respiratory illness, according to Dr. Eric Wilke, who is with the Brazos County Health Authority. The student said they had been sick but was feeling better and just wanted to be checked out, especially since they had just come from traveling abroad.
This new virus originates from Wuhan City in China, and has affected hundreds of people, with confirmed cases in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan. Twenty-five people have died since the outbreak was reported in China.
There is one confirmed case of coronavirus in Washington state. There are no vaccines and the CDC says you can reduce the risk of infection by washing your hands and avoiding close contact with people who are sick. Symptoms of the new virus may be similar to those of a common cold and the flu.
Dr. Wilke said it takes 24 hours to confirm the diagnosis after testing and the Brazos County Health District will release the results of the testing when it comes in. They said the patient is currently at their home and continuing to recover.
“There's nothing really distinctive about this virus from its clinical presentation which presents a challenge to doctors trying to sort out the difference between a Coronavirus infection and, for example, flu,” said Vanderbilt University Medical Center Dr. William Schaffner.
The CDC has been alerting doctors to look out for patients with respiratory symptoms such as runny nose or cough, and is also working to develop a test to detect the virus in clinics.
Five major airports across the United States have started screening travelers going to and returning from Wuhan City.
The Brazos County Health District is asking if you have traveled to Wuhan recently and have flu-like symptoms, call 979-361-4440.
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The Brazos County Health Department has confirmed it is investigating a possible case of the coronavirus from Brazos County.
The health department stated the patient recently traveled from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus originated. The patient met the criteria for testing of the coronavirus, according to the health department. Health officials said the patient is being isolated at home while the testing takes place.
This is a developing story. We will have more information as it is released today.